BOSTON, MA - June 30, 2025 - The Boston Public Library (BPL) celebrates Disability Pride Month with its Disabled, Not Unable booklist. Observed annually in July, Disability Pride Month honors and explores the influence and legacy of members of the disabled and neurodivergent community.
The Disabled, Not Unable booklist, compiled by BPL staff from various locations, features 75 recent titles written by disabled authors or about the experiences of disabled people. The list showcases fiction and nonfiction selections for adults, teenagers, and children by authors such as Daniel Aubrey, Abigail Heringer, Yvie Oddly, Andrew Joseph White, and Hannah Bonam-Young. Genres from this collection include graphic novels, picture books, mystery, romance, poetry, and memoirs.
Each book on the list contains a synopsis and is accompanied by an image of the book cover as well as classification information. In addition to print books, select titles are available as eBooks or audiobooks.
Along with the booklist, the BPL will celebrate Disability Pride Month with related programs:
- Family Bookworms Book Club: Shiny Misfits | July 10, Online | A lively discussion of Shiny Misfits by Maysoon Zayid, a funny and empowering graphic novel about Bay Ann, a disabled girl determined to define her own spotlight and rewrite the narrative around fame, talent, and disability.
- Radical Reads: All the Little Bird-Hearts | July 17, Online | A discussion of Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow's 2023 novel All the Little Bird-Hearts, which follows an astute woman with autism coming to terms with the meaning of love, of motherhood, and of authenticity, and a poignant reminder about why accepting ourselves can be so freeing.
- Disability Pride Friendship Bracelets | July 22, Parker Hill | Show your pride and support while learning how to make a friendship bracelet using the Disability Pride flag colors! While we craft our bracelets, we'll be listening to a curated playlist.
- Film Screening: Swim Team (2016) | July 23, Central | A screening of Swim Team, a 2016 documentary film which captures a moving quest for inclusion, independence, and a life that feels winning as it chronicles the extraordinary rise of the Jersey Hammerheads, a team of competitive swimmers on the autism spectrum.
- Friday Films: Murderball (2005) | July 25, Parker Hill | A film screening of 2005’s Murderball, in which a team of quadriplegics, who play full-contact rugby in wheelchairs, overcome unimaginable obstacles to compete in the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece.
- Safety and Independence in the Kitchen: A Guide to Equipment and Strategies | July 28, Roxbury | Occupational Therapist Allison Pinsince leads this program focusing on adaptive tools, techniques, and equipment to help maintain independence and safety in the kitchen setting, helpful for people who are recovering from surgery or injury as well as people who are limited in their mobility in the kitchen.
- Queer Reads Book Club: Leg: The Story of a Limb and the Boy Who Grew From It | July 31, Jamaica Plain | A discussion of Leg: The Story of a Limb and the Boy Who Grew From It by Greg Marshall; a funny and moving memoir about coming out as both gay and disabled, and embracing the parts of ourselves that shape who we are.
Physical copies of the Disabled, Not Unable booklist will be available at all BPL locations starting July 1, 2025; it can also be accessed digitally. In addition, the booklist and information about Disability Pride Month programs will also appear on the BPL website at bpl.org and on the BPL social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram).
Patrons can view many years' worth of prior affinity booklists, such as those from Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Black History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, Native American Heritage Month, and Pride Month in an online archive.
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ABOUT THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
Established in 1848, the Boston Public Library is a pioneer of public library service in America. It was the first large, free municipal library in the United States; the first public library to lend books; the first to have a branch library; and the first to have a children’s room.
The Boston Public Library of today is a robust system that includes the Central Library in Copley Square, 25 neighborhood branches, the Norman B. Leventhal Map and Education Center, the Kirstein Business Library and Innovation Center, and an archival center, offering public access to world-class special collections of rare books, manuscripts, photographs, and prints, along with rich digital content and online services.
The Boston Public Library serves nearly 4 million visitors per year and millions more online. All of its programs and exhibitions are free to all and open to the public. The Boston Public Library is a department of the City of Boston, under the leadership of Mayor Michelle Wu. To learn more, visit bpl.org.